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Judges in Franklin and Fairfield counties have suppressed some of the evidence against two men
accused of robbery because deputies placed a GPS device on one of their cars without obtaining a
warrant.

The judges reversed their previous decisions in the cases against Montie E. Sullivan, 21, and
David L. White, 25, because of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

In Franklin County, where the pair is accused in seven burglaries and home invasions, Common
Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook found this week that some of the evidence against Sullivan must be
suppressed because he was the owner of the car and the warrantless use of the GPS device violated
his constitutional rights.

In Fairfield County, where they are charged in one home invasion, Common Pleas Judge Chris A.
Martin ruled last month that “all evidence obtained by law enforcement as a result of the unlawful
search and seizure is suppressed” in their cases.

Prosecutors in both counties are appealing the rulings, further delaying cases that have been
the subject of a three-year legal battle.

Sullivan and White have been locked up since their arrests in a series of armed residential
break-ins in January 2010. Defense attorneys have argued that tracking the pair by placing a GPS
device on Sullivan’s car without obtaining a warrant was a violation of their rights to privacy and
Fourth Amendment protections against illegal searches and seizures.

Police have said the GPS device tracked the pair to the area of a Fairfield County home invasion
and later to an apartment on the East Side, where they were arrested.

The judges ruled separately in 2011 that the use of the GPS didn’t require a warrant. Holbrook
wrote then that “a reasonable expectation of privacy” does not exist for those parking and
traveling on public roads.

But the Supreme Court rejected that argument in an unrelated case in January 2012,
finding that placing a GPS device on a suspect’s vehicle and tracking it constitutes a search
under the Fourth Amendment.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said his office “expects to appeal the Sullivan case and
to proceed with prosecution of White.”

Fairfield County Prosecutor Gregg Marx said his office already filed its appeals of Martin’s
rulings.